I am so proud of my kids. They are finding hardly used or not used at all school supplies from years past around the house to fill their back to school supply list. I am proud because they are thrifty and don't have to have all new and shiny paper and etc. Half of the list has been filled shopping what they already had.
Teacher friends this is not a rant about teachers this is a rant about the system. I HATE what the back to school supply list teaches kids. The list calls for 6 packs of paper, 96 pencils, 1/2 a dozen glue sticks and so on. The teacher takes all the supplies up on the first day and the kids have to go to the teacher and ask for their supplies as needed. The kids do not learn to be good stewards of what they have because they can just keep going back to the teacher and ask for more. You should see all the pencils in the dust pile at the end of the school day. Dozens of good pencils just dropped and never picked up. I know you might be thinking what about they kids who can't afford pencils. Those kids are taken care of in a number of ways. YMCA backpack school supply giveaways, FRC, Community and Corporate partners who giveaway school supplies. I want to teach my kids that they are in-charge of their belongings. It is their job to keep the tools he needs to do his job in good working order. I think they are learning what I am teaching.
